> Give me two players in the East and two players in the West who absolutely, positively need to be named All-Stars Thursday night.

David Aldridge, TNT analyst: DeMar DeRozan and Jimmy Butler in the East, and Chris Paul and Draymond Green in the West. All have been sensational all season for their respective teams.

Steve Aschburner, NBA.com: In the East, Jimmy Butler and Andre Drummond have to be All-Stars and inthe West, it’s Draymond Green and DeMarcus Cousins who need to join the party in Toronto. Butler has taken his game to yet another level from his All-Star work in 2015 and the coaches surely respect his two-way excellence. Drummond puts up some monster numbers, is a fresh young face for the NBA and can’t be excluded by the Pistons’ record for a change. If Steph Curry is the motor of the Warriors’ dominance, Green is the transmission and it’s showing in is all-around impact. Finally, Cousins is the best center in the game and that still is a legit position in this league, regardless of “frontcourt” labeling in All-Star voting. One request: If Drummond and Cousins both go, please leave the typical All-Star cool-and-casualness to others and let’s see those bigs go at each other in the low post — hard — in a nod to a dying style and old-school fans.

Fran Blinebury, NBA.com: In the East, it’s Jimmy Butler and Andre Drummond. During this tumultuous start to the season, Butler has firmly taken over the role as the Bulls’ alpha dog with career-best numbers of 22.3 points and 4.2 assists to go with 5.3 rebounds an 1.7 steals per game while also being a All-Defensive team player. Drummond is having a career year averaging 17.1 points and 15.2 rebounds. He’d be only the fourth player since 1982-83 season to hit those marks for a full season.

In the West, it’s Draymond Green and DeMarcus Cousins. Green should get the spot denied him by sentimentality toward Kobe Bryant by acclamation of the coaches. While Steph Curry is the heart of the Warriors attack, Green is their relentless, unforgiving soul. I don’t want to hear any more excuses about the Kings’ bad record. Cousins has been nothing short of a monster putting up All-Star numbers by any standards.

Scott Howard-Cooper, NBA.com: In the East, it’s Jimmy Butler and Andre Drummond. Butler is the best shooting guard in the conference, an elite player on both sides of the ball, while Drummond is a force inside, so much of a force that he is an automatic even playing for a team scrambling to hold on to a playoff spot. In the West, it’s Draymond Green and Chris Paul. Green would be (or should be) getting MVP votes if ballots went out today, though not for first or second place, so, yeah, he is the definition of “absolutely, positively need to be named” an All-Star. Paul clearly remains among the elite, particularly with his play that continues to give the Clippers a puncher’s chance in the West during Blake Griffin’s absence.

Shaun Powell, NBA.com: In the West, it’s DeMarcus Cousins and Draymond Green. Cousins has finally shut his mouth and opened his game and the results have been nuclear — he’s the best center in basketball. Green proves his value to the best team in basketball on a nightly basis and is a most unlikely star. Inthe East, it’s DeMar DeRozan and Jimmy Butler, a pair of shooting guards. Butler should be a starter instead of Dwyane Wade. Meanwhile, DeRozan will be a worthy addition to the game hosted by Toronto — the hottest team in the East.

John Schuhmann, NBA.com: In the East, it’s Jimmy Butler and DeMar DeRozan. Butler has been critical on both ends of the floor for the Bulls, while DeRozan has carried a huge load (and scored more efficiently) for the league’s sixth best offense. In the West, it’s Draymond Green and Chris Paul. Green has been a defensive anchor and the league’s best playmaking power forward. Paul hasn’t been as good as he was the last couple of seasons, but is still the best player on a top-four team and has helped the Clippers go 12-3 in the absence of Blake Griffin.

Sekou Smith, NBA.com:In the East, it’s Jimmy Butler and DeMar DeRozan. Butler’s performance this season for a Bulls team in disarray deserved a starter’s nod, so there is no doubt he better be on that seven-man list Thursday night. DeRozan has made a similar case for himself in Toronto and should enjoy the spoils of playing host during All-Star Weekend. In the West, it’s Draymond Green and DeMarcus Cousins. Both are, in a sense, locks. Green’s credential are found in the pile of highlights he’s amassed this season and Cousins has been spectacular (more often than not) for a Kings team poised to make a playoff push the second half of the season.

Ian Thomsen, NBA.com: In the East, it’s DeMar DeRozan and Jimmy Butler. DeRozan is the leading scorer of the No. 2 Raptors and the All-Star Game will be played on his homecourt – that ought to suffice. Butler, who leads No. 4 Chicago with 22.3 points after scoring 53 a couple of weeks ago, is another must-select. In the West, it’s Draymond Green and Klay Thompson. Both have been indispensable to the NBA’s far-and-away best team. They join Steph Curry as the most deserving All-Stars this season.

Lang Whitaker, NBA.com’s All Ball blog: In the East, it’s Paul Millsap and Kyrie Irving. I’ve been all-in on Millsap all season, so why stop now? He’s the best player on the Hawks and is averaging career highs across the board. And I know he’s been injured for most of the season, and probably won’t get named by coaches, but I’d love to see Irving in the All-Star Game. He’s the type of player that the All-Star Game is made for, with the ability to pull off crazy dribbling tricks and throw wild alley-oops. In the West, it’s DeMarcus Cousins and Will Barton. Cousins has simply been great all season and, in the spirit of Kyrie, Denver’s exciting scoring machine (Barton) is kind of made for this all-out scoring stage.

Lang Whitaker….wow….just wow…did you get out from the wrong side of bed?
Or you just do not know your stats?
Or you are planning to start a career as a stand up comic?
Or some kind of hallucinatory drug that has you seing Will Barton disguised as someone else?
Or is it just the thought of Trump still leading the polls?
I could go on….

Shaun Powell is a hater! how come he say that Wade shouldn’t be oppening the All-Star?
Is as insane as saying that Kobe should not open, or MJ or LBJ Being on the bench!

D-Wade is one of the Best SG in all-Time NBA History, and should be opening the All Star Game, not only this year, but every year! He deserve it, he has been carring his team since 2004 and, after a lot of injuries, he is still a solid Shooting Guard!

DeMar Derozan and Jimmy Butler for the East, and Boogie and Wiggins for the West. Ideally it should be cp3 over Wiggins, but its in Toronoto, and i think it would be good all around to have wiggins there.